The 12th Caesar (Under Hiatus)
by MDVG
Summary: We are known as the Elemental Hosts, born with our power of the four main elements. Fear us not, we live only to protect. We have...most of the control over what we can do. The rest...well, is up to the one we were created to destroy. Trust me...much better then it sounds. Action, romance, spiritual (in a sense) Saku&Sasu, Shika&Ino, Naru&Hina, Lee&OC, etc etc.


As you might recall, I said something of a big 'Naruto' project coming up. Well, here's the first chapter of it. If it looks familiar, that means I deleted it and re uploaded it. I didn't like the way it sounded in the beginning. But here we go.

* * *

Here lies tales of which were never spoken until tonight, this night of our deadly sacrifice. Konoha knows of our power, knows of our curse. The curse of elemental chaos, passed down by the blood of our mothers, our foremothers, our past.

Our teams, clueless of our devastating strength. But our sensei's...they knew. Somehow, they've always known. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Kakashi knows anyway...after all, he's the one who brought my family here to safety...

Now as I write these tales of our power, our force, our curse, I must warn you. We look not as we seem. Born with such horrid curses that could very well end our lives, as well as the lives of those we love.

To bring you up to speed, I give you the simplified details of what we are. The rest...you shall hear and fear.

My dear friends, Hinata Hyuuga, cursed with the spirit of the Water Raven, aqua bends to her whim.

Ino Yamanaka, cursed with the spirit of The Wolf of Air and of Time...she controls the wind and air, time bends to her will.

Mia Izowoka, a woman you have yet to meet, born with with spirt of The Fire Fox. Her flaming beauty, deadly and flaring.

And as for I, Sakura Haruno, born with the most powerful of the four...The Silent Crow...the power of the earth at my fists.

We are known as the Elemental Hosts, born with our power of the four main elements. Fear us not, we live only to protect. We have...most of the control over what we can do. The rest...well, is up to the one we were created to destroy.

I hope you understand our curse as well as we desire our loved ones to understand.

* * *

Chapter One

Fire swept through the area, screaming shrouded the area, thick with smoke. People were running about, children trying to find their families.

One family, desperate to get away, held their infant child as they tried to escape the ninja trailing after them. The man cradled the small child to his chest as his wife stopped and skidded her heel to face the ninja. She cracked her neck and extended her hand, a dark purple light emitting from her palms. The ninja attacked with stars and kunai, aiming straight for them. Her eyes widened and a wall of earth came crashing from below the surface, blocking the weapons in their place.

The ninja, however, continued to run for them. The woman growled and formed hand symbols, eyes glowing a light purple. She set her hands to the earth, flat and palms glowing.

"Summon! Earth Bound Serpent jutsu!"

Almost immediately, snakes of mud and earth broke through the dirt and rushed through to attack the ninja. The ninja stopped, trying to fend off the serpents while the three made their escape to the gates. But as they made it to the gates, they saw that hardly anyone had made it. When the man turned to look at the village, he was in near tears. The woman took their child from him and removed the blankets, looking over the childs face. Her sweet daughter...pale as snow, eyes as green as emeralds. Her pink hair was starting to come in nicely. The woman smiled but looked over the village.

The Silent village was no more...their home destroyed...by him...

Avoiding her tears, the woman turned to her husband and mentioned they had to leave. So they ran, and they ran far.

For hours they ran, smelling smoke and fire from far behind. As far as they could before the man stopped, panting and saying,

"Saicho, we must stop...there are no villages for miles if we continue on foot. And it is not good for-"

"Taki, I know. I understand your discomfort...I feel so foolish. That man destroyed everything. Everything...And I was too weak to stop him."

The man, Taki, set his hand on her shoulder and said sternly,

"It was not your fault. The fault lays with no one but him. It's the least of our worries now. Sakura needs a home. Were can we go?"

Saicho sighed and looked around. Nothing but forest. The Haruno family lived in The Silent Village for years...how were they to start a new somewhere else...

They looked at the baby girl in Saicho's arms. She was sound asleep, face peaceful and calm. It made them smile and forget about their worries for the time being. Soon, they found themselves sitting on a rock, listening to the night birds chirping. Taki pulled out some maps and began his searching for a nearby village as Saicho fed their starving child. It was quiet...much too quiet.

Suddenly, Saicho gasped, her eyes wide with shock. Taki looked at her and asked,

"What is it? Do you feel something in the earth?"

"...Footsteps...soft ones, but they sound as though they come from a strong creature."

"A ninja perhaps?"

"Perhaps...I cannot tell. But he's getting closer."

They both remained silent for moments, hours it seemed. Taki pulled out a kunai and stood ready as Saicho's eyes began to glow a light purple. Finally, out of the dark bushes, a man came out and Taki threw the kunai at him. The man was startled, but grabbed the kunai, throwing it back at Taki. Just before it connected, a wall of rock quickly slithered over and intercepted it, knocking it to the ground. The man's eye widened and he walked towards them, hands up, mentioning he was not going to harm them. Taki saw the headband he was wearing, but couldn't place the village he belonged to. The man looked at them for a moment, asking,

"What are you both doing out here? And with a child as young as her."

Taki stood and said,

"Our village was destroyed suddenly. We have no where to go."

"And what village did you hail from?"

"The Silent Core."

The man walked closer to them, his eye now visibly wide. They could see half of his face was covered and his hair was white as snow itself. He looked...calm. He said,

"I thought as much. Let me guess...Koa Akuma?"

Taki nodded and looked at his wife, who was now shaking madly in fear of that name. So Taki tried to explain.

"He was after Saicho. He said that the others escaped..."

The man gasped and looked at Saicho. Suddenly, he was in front of her, tilting her head so she was locking her eyes with his. His eye grew wide again as he honed a tiny bit of chakra into his fingertip and touched her forehead gently. Almost quickly, a dark purple symbol appeared on her forehead and he gasped again, but regained his calm quickly.

"The symbol for Earth...you must the Sil-"

"I am the 11th Ceasur if the Elemental Hosts...yes...I am the Silent Crow...but no longer. It has been passed down to her."

The man looked at the girl in her arms and he smiled. And the girl smiled up at him.

"You three can't be out like this if he knows she's alive. If he were to know you had a child-"

"We all had children. All girls. They all fled to the same village. Konoha I think."

The man smiled and pointed to his headband. It was then Taki snapped his fingers and said,

"That's where your band reminds me of. Konoha...sir, please, take us there. I want my wife and daughter safe. If Koa is after Saicho, then he'll be after Sakura as well."

"No. If he knows that all four of them had children, he'll be after them instead. He knows that the mothers power has weakened in the chakra transfer and the child now holds the stronger power. He's after your daughter now. And the daughters of the other three...I will take you to Konoha. Quickly, follow me. Konoha is the last place he'll look."

They all got to their feet and Taki quickly packed up his maps, asking,

"Who are you...if I may ask."

"My name is Kakashi. And I will be sure you all are safe from Koa and his gaze of hell...let's go..."

* * *

17 years later...

"Gah, where the hell is he?! He's always late!"

"Naruto! Do you have to be so loud?"

The blond looked at his pink haired friend and smiled, giving her a thumbs up. She groaned and sat against the rock, rubbing her forehead. It had been a long night and training was the last thing she needed right now. Her night had been filled of fire, screaming, pain. She wasn't sure as to why. She hissed as her head throbbed in pain, trying to heal it herself.

A hand was brought to her view and she looked up into the worried black eyes of her boyfriend/teammate. He held a pill and a bottle of water. She smiled and took the two, thanking him quickly as she gulped down the water with the pill.

"Thank you Sasuke. I needed that."

"Your headaches aren't getting any better. Have you been sleeping?"

"I have. It's just staying asleep is the problem."

Naruto jumped down from his seat and asked,

"How is it a problem? Out of the three of us, you usually always sleep easy."

"I know...it's the dreams I've been having. They're so odd."

The two boys tilted their heads and gave her a questioning look. She sighed and went on, running her hands through her pink hair.

"Every night it's been the same thing. I dream of fire...I literally hear screaming, I feel my skin grow rough...kind of like dirt. I hear a man calling my name, and it's closer every night. It's like...he can see me. And everytime I wake up, I sweat cold sweat and there's dirt in my bed. My clothes are covered in mud and dirt and guh...it's crazy."

Naruto's eyes widened and Sasuke looked at her with such confused worry. It wasn't like her to be having nightmares like this, if any at all. Sakura was always a level head. To have nightmares wasn't good. But so far, it didn't seem to effect her at all. She was still the same Sakura. Strong and hot headed, powerful strength that grew over the year. What she used to have was the strength of 10 men. Now, it seemed like the strength of 20. She was fierce. Incredibly fierce. So fierce to the point that no one would fuck around with her.

And it was seemingly no wonder Sasuke was with her. After his return, (along with jail time for 5 months), he seemed more layed back and calm. And having this pink haired woman as his girlfriend made him much happier. After all, she had changed.

Sighing again, Sakura leaned against the rock and stared at the sky, watching the crows fly along. Her eyes seemed to darken as she saw them. And one of them perched on a tree, seemingly staring her down. Shutting her eyes, she said,

"If he doesn't show up in the next five fucking minutes, I'm seriously going home and going back to bed."

"Seriously. I coulda been with Tsunade and going over my hokage training."

"Still stuns me that a dope like you managed to make it to hokage training."

"Hey! Shut up, teme! I said once I became hokage, I'd make you Anbu Captain! So quit your bitching!"

The pink haired girl smiled at the two fighting and arguing. It always amused her now when they argued since it was now much less physical. She rubbed her neck and shivered at her own touch. It was a semi chilly day, only slighty sunny. She turned to sit on the rock and rub her forehead again. She honed some chakra into her palm to ease her headache...one of the best perps of being a medical ninja.

Once the chakra hit her forehead, she slowly felt her headache fade quickly, making her smile. It only took a few moments until she realized there was something on her forehead...other than her hand. Taking it away, she pulled out a small mirror and looked at herself. Was she dreaming? No...no it was there bright as day.

"Oi, Sakura, you alright?"

Sakura jumped and turned around, hiding her forehead from the two boys. While she wasn't too sure what it was, she certainly didn't want them to see it. But of course, Naruto noticed her hand nearly glued to her forehead and asked,

"You have a scratch or something?"

"Um...n-no."

"Well then what is it?"

"Don't-!"

Before she could stop him, Sasuke had moved forward and yanked her hand away, her forehead in plain view. For a minute, she was nervous and quiet. But when she heard Sasuke speak, she was confused.

"What were you hiding? There's nothing there."

Sakura gasped and looked at her head in the mirror. He was right...nothing was there. But, she saw it, clear as day. Was she crazy?

Groaning, she layed her head against the rock and sighed, staring at the sky, listening to the two boys talk. Another 15 minutes went by and Naruto sat on the bridge railing, sighing loudly.

"He's obviously not coming today. He's probably still reading his freaking porno books again."

"Naruto, give him some credit. He's a pervert yes, but he's still an amazing sensei. He's gotten us this far in life."

"Yeah I know that. But that doesn't give him much of a right to-"

"Be as late as you three were years ago?"

Naruto jumped suddenly and slowly turned to face his smiling sensie. Damn him and that cocky smile behind that mask. It made Naruto mad sometimes, but he pushed it aside and held his hands behind his head.

"So, what's our training today?"

Kakashi hummed, fishing out his book. Sakura noticed something off about him this afternoon. Like he just found out something that seemingly stunned him. She held her finger to her chin and sighed. Her sensei also sighed and said,

"Sorry to keep you waiting, but there is no training today. Something's come up and all ninja are to report to Tsunade immediately. Including you three and the other squads."

"Must be important if Tsunade-sama wants all of us there."

"She didn't say what the issue is, but she did say it was serious. Now come on. Let's go."

Sakura jumped down from the rock and ran up to the boys as they walked into the village. As they walked through, Naruto was complaining that Tsunade should've mentioned this before during his own training. His bitching made Sakura punch him upside the head and tell him to shut his mouth. Sasuke just chuckled and continued walking with them, noting how dark it was suddenly getting. He didn't hear anything about a storm tonight. Maybe it was a passing storm.

Once at the Hokage Tower, they walked into Tsunade's office and saw all the other squads there. And once Tsunade saw them, she smirked.

"Finally, you're here. Now we can get this meeting under way."

Gai raised his arm and said,

"Pardon me, Hokage-sama. But I believe you said all ninja were to report to you. Why is it just us here?"

"You'll see in a moment Gai. But right now, there's something I need to inform you of. It's a mission, but it's not the same kind as you would think. Before I inform you though.."

She stood up and looked at all the squads, saying,

"Sakura, Hinata and Ino. Please step outside for a moment. I'll get to you three in a moment."

Everyone was stunned. They all looked at the three in question, who were also quite stunned by the Hokage's request. But, they obeyed without question and walked out of the office. Once they were gone, Tsunade said,

"As for the rest of you, listen carefully."

* * *

*meanwhile, outside the office*

"I wonder why we were pushed out of her special meeting. Maybe she has a specific mission just for us."

"Um..Ino, I don't think we should jump to any conclusions just yet. There might be something she's using us for and she's surprising us."

"Well, let's ask her apprentice. Oi, Sakura, do you know why Tsunade pushed us out so early?"

Sakura said nothing. It was like she didn't even hear them. She was so lost in her own little world at the moment. Her green eyes were glazed over, darker if you will. She was thinking back to the dream she had and why they were suddenly coming back. Then she remembered something...she looked at the other two and bluntly asked,

"Have you two started having those odd dreams again? Because I have."

For starters, Hinata and Ino were stunned. But then they looked at each other, then looked at Sakura nodding.

"I see. I'm not surprised. It's like we're synchronized dream wise. Every time one of us has them, we all have them. Do you remember what they were about?"

Hinata spoke first.

"I remember a lot of screaming and water. I think there was a flood. I also remember waking up like I was in the ocean since my skin was wet and cold. It was weird."

"I get what you mean. My dreams are also screaming, but it's like...there's a tornado or something. And I wake up feeling rushed, like I was in the same storm. What about you, forehead?"

"Same. Lot's of screaming and I wake up feeling dirty and rough, like rock. Do you think they're messages of some kind?"

They shook their heads and Sakura sighed, sitting on the bench. The three women have had these dreams since they were young. And they never understood what they meant. Sometimes, they would ask their mothers about the dreams, but they would always give the exact same response.

'It was only a dream. It doesn't mean anything.'

Sakura groaned. These dreams were taking away their sleep and because of that, they were starting to fail on missions. Normally, they could run on little or no sleep at all. But the dreams were leaving them shaken and frustrated, making it hard to focus on missions.

Suddenly, the door opened and the squads walked out. They all looked refreshed and ready to go. Ino stood and said,

"So what's our mission?"

Shikamaru sighed and said,

"Our mission is no concern of you three since you have your own mission that Hokage wouldn't tell us. So troublesome...just go see her."

Ino growled at her teammates attitude and walked in the office, Sakura and Hinata following her. Sakura shut and locked the door, knowing that this was probably deathly serious if Tsunade wanted just the three. They walked up to her desk and bowed. Tsunade sat up and said,

"I'm sure you're curious as to why I'm assigning you your own mission."

"Quite curious, Tsunade-sama. If we may ask, what mission did you assign the others?"

Tsunade sighed and stood, walked to face them and said,

"I assigned them the mission the stay out of your way on your mission."

The three girls looked at each other, now very confused. And Tsunade chuckled, pulling a map from her coat and tossed it to Sakura. Said girl opened it and they all looked at it, still confused.

"Tsunade-sama, what is this?"

"Why, your mission of course. Your mission is to go to the Fire's Core and retrieve someone for us."

Ino looked at their master and tilted her head.

"Fire's Core? What's that?"

"A village that was destroyed 17 years ago, but it slowly being rebuilt. We had a couple from there living in Konoha for a few years, but they returned to assist in the rebuilding of their home. Your job is to retrieve their only daughter."

Sakura nodded and asked,

"And who are we looking for?"

Tsunade pulled out a small slip of paper, handing it to Hinata. She looked at the girl in the picture and tilted her own head. As did Sakura and Ino.

The girl in the picture had pale skin, pitch black hair and firey red eyes. Her hair was down on her shoulders and she looked...beautiful. The three girls looked at the picture for a few moments, thinking that somehow, they knew this girl.

"The girl is Mia Izowoka. We feel she is essential for our village. Your job is to go and bring her here."

Sakura nodded, placing both parchments in her pouch. Ino, however, asked,

"Tsunade-sama, if I may say...this girl looks very familier to us. Do we know her?"

Tsunade shrugged.

"You might. I can't really say. I left this village years ago and just came back for this job as Hokage. Just go and bring her back. You can ask her questions when you get there. And fair warning. The Fire's Core isn't very handshaky since it was destroyed long ago. They might accept you since you're from the Leaf Village and we're unknown allies of their...sort of."

Hinata and Ino bowed, nodding and turned to leave. But Sakura stayed, asking,

"If I may ask, why is it just me, Hinata and Ino? Why are the others not coming with us?"

Tsunade's smile then dropped to a stern, concerned look. It was a look none of the girls had seen before. The blond woman sighed and said,

"I think that's a question you'll answer on your way there. When you retrieve Mia, it'll make more sense. Hopefully. Now no more questions. Just go."

The three bowed and quickly left. Tsunade sighed again when the door shut and she reached over for her sake. It was bad enough to lie to her three strongest females, but now it came down to them retrieving their fourth, even though they had no clue what it meant. Shizune walked in with another bottle and saw her masters concerned look.

"Tsunade-sama, do you think it was wise to send them alone? Maybe their sensei's should've gone-"

"No. This is something they must do themselves. You know as well as I do that...THEY'RE slowly awakening from their slumber and that means he'll be looking for them as well. It's best the four of them are together when it happens."

"But they don't even know about their own power. How will they be able to defend-"

"I trust them, Shizune. I have faith in what they could do. The only major concern is if they have unconscious control over those spirits. God only knows what they could do if they lost control."

Shizune opened her mouth again, but stopped talking when he saw that Tsunade was right. Those 4 girls together could prove to be a great protection...though at the same time, a deadly surge if they couldn't control what they didn't know they had. No one except Tsunade, Shinzune and the squad sensei's knew about this power those girls had...

"I take it...Sakura has the...um...stronger soul?"

"Ohh yes. A blind man could see she's got the spirit of the crow. But right now, we need to make sure they retrieve Mia safely. If Koa's coming back, then he'll be sending some obstacles their way to test their power."

Shizune nodded, knowing what she had to do and left the office. Tsunade plopped back down in her seat and stared at the ceiling, inwardly praying she made the right choice in sending the girls alone.

Outside the tower, when the girls walked out, Sakura gave them certain orders in what to bring and they nodded, quickly heading off to their homes. The pink haired girl sighed and looked ahead, seeing her two teammates waiting for her. Naruto was waving madly and smiling. She gave a small smile back and walked over to them, rubbing her neck.

Sasuke tiled his head and asked,

"So, what did Tsunade have to say?"

"She assigned me, Hinata and Ino on a mission alone. We have to go and retrieve some girl at the Fire's Core."

Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at her, then each other, then at her again. She raised her hands and said,

"I'm just as lost as you are. But we have a map showing how to get there and we have to leave tonight. Apparently, it's a pretty good distance from us, so it'll only take us a few days to get there, 2 at best."

"She's sending you three alone?"

"She said this is something we have to do alone. What stuns me is that I feel like we know they girl we have to pick up. Look, I can't talk about this anymore. I have to go home and get ready to leave. I'll see you both whenever we get back."

She kissed Sasuke on the cheek and walked off down the dirt path to her own home. As she walked, Naruto's eyes furrowed and he said,

"I take it you're just as worried?"

"Slightly. I'm not worried about the girls. We know they can take care of themselves. It's this odd location they're going to. Have you heard of it?"

"Nope. You?"

"Not at all...Fire's Core...doesn't ring a bell."

"Should we ask Kakashi about it?"

"I suppose. I don't like the sound of this odd mission they're going on...it sounds..."

Sasuke stopped and stared at Naruto, who bore the same look on his face. Sudden suspicion. They nodded and trailed the other way to the library, to gain more knowledge on this so called Fire' Core.

_TBC..._


End file.
